Covid 19 coronavirus: TV caption gaffe during pandemic update

A transcriber has made an unfortunate blunder during today's Covid-19 update when they miscaptioned Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's comments on live TV.

Ardern gave an update on Wednesday afternoon on the country's current status of the Covid-19 lockdown and urged people to stay home during Easter weekend.

However during her address, when she urged people to "enjoy your staycations" the words were captioned on TV to say "enjoy your Steak Asian".

The blunder was picked up by Newstalk ZB broadcaster Marcus Lush, who shared it on Twitter.

Boom #steakasian (staycation) steak Asian pic.twitter.com/ovqcaZK5ZE

— ⓂⒶⓇⒸⓊⓈ ⓁⓊⓈⒽ (@marcuslush) April 8, 2020

This prompted someone else to say they saw another mistake while watching the update.

I also saw "OWL ROLLING AVERAGE" - apparently at an all time high which must be upsetting to bird lovers.

— Nick Baker (@nickbakernz) April 8, 2020

TVNZ's closed captioning is provided by a third party.

As the press conference today, Ardern said police have shared a clear message to the public in regards to the Easter break and what people are allowed to do.

"The message here is very simple," she said.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

"Alert level 4 lockdown remains in place and there's absolutely no change to the rules.

"That means churches and other places of worship will remain closed over Easter weekend.

"I know that will be an enormous disappointment to many NZers of faith, but I ask religious leaders to ensure that there are not congregations coming together.

NeedToKnow3

She said many places of worship are using other tools such as Zoom and YouTube to connect with communities.

She urged people to go to their faith's website and get details on how they can worship with others over Easter.

"Please do stay at home, save lives and enjoy your staycations."